As the skies are blue after a week of snow, and the trees are spritzed with green bits and a dab of pink flowers, I'm delighted to report that I managed to get the moving box level down in our house considerably, at least in the living room area. No more boxes to the ceiling!
I believe almost all the kitchen boxes have been unpacked, and it is quite apparent that putting my kitchen goods into a kitchen one third smaller than what I had before will require some thinking. Like what do I use regularly, occasionally, and basically never. I'm still perplexed over two regular cupcake pans, one mini pan, and one jumbo pan. Do I need all three of these options? I'm thinking the jumbo pan can go. The hot air pop corn popper? Gone.
We were astonished to find that we owned two entire shelves worth of teas. Now that we have an insta-hot water dispenser, where boiling hot water is always instantly available, we expect to greatly increase our tea sipping. But even if we were to brew up two cups a day, we would still be bogged down in tea boxes.
Solution: take duplicate boxes to work for the break room.
Friday I worked like a dog and got through about 20 boxes. Saturday it was rainy and snowy, so of course we had to run errands. We spent a couple of hours unpacking some more, then headed out around 11 am.
First stop was to an alterations shop, where my MOG dress suit will be shortened and a bit let out in the bust and tummy. I had bought the periwinkle crepe floor length skirted suit about eight years ago, joking that it would be my "emergency" mother of the bride or groom outfit.
I had worried about finding suitable floor length attire for an evening event, as most floor length items actually hit above the ankle on me. This one fit right in all the "length" areas, including the sleeves and jacket length. It was on clearance at Ross or Marshalls, I forget which one, and so I snapped it up and hung it away, knowing that I was "covered" for either an evening wedding or other formal event that required a non-ball gown option.
The long sleeved suit has a scalloped jacket hem, bound in matching periwinkle satin, and has a periwinkle/navy iridescent bead work design just below the fitted waist, just above the jacket hem.
I love how the scallop hem on the jacket looks from the back...and the fitted waistline gives the suit a curvy feminine flair. Periwinkle is a great color, and in this case, a perfect solution to the issue of finding something in a shade of blue. The wedding colors are fuchsia and navy, the MOB is wearing a mauve suit, so that left me trying to find a pastel version of navy.
The alterations lady assures me that she will make the suit fit me just right (a few pounds and post surgery tummy issues acquired since the suit was purchase had made the suit just a tiny bit tight...) The suit was in storage until just a week ago, so I couldn't count on it until I unpacked it.
So whew...I think I'll be OK for the wedding. Now to find some cute and comfy shoes...
We also shopped for glasses (they are now ordered, two pairs, one for computer work, one for regular, and hurrah, the regular pair will do the color change trick so I won't be squinting as I drive in bright sunlight anymore.) We got a light fixture for the bedroom...grocery shopped....and bang...Saturday was mostly done.
Sunday Bernie, Jeff and Rachel hit the powder, skiing in the sunshine, while I unpacked some more. By three I felt I was walking around in circles, and had a sore throat. The kitchen was already oveflowing with stuff, and more stuff was piled on tables, awaiting triage. Thank goodness the skiers returned and piled into the hot tub. I joined in too, then took a nap. Yup...I definitely am not feeling good...the sore throat was glowing away after I got up from the nap.
Five large boxes are now loaded into my car awaiting a donation trip to the thrift store. I'm at work, tired, and faced with two easy assignments, yet all I want to do is crawl back into bed.
Ugh, Monday and a cold coming on.
I guess I was long over due.
PS: North Korea's rocket launch and subsequent total lack of censure by NATO bodes poorly for all of us. The western region of North America is now being armed (I read) to the upsized threat of attack. Sadly, discussions are also occurring of a pre-emptive strike, one that I could almost agree with, except that it really sounds like the hounds of war are being primed as they so often are in time of economic crisis as a quick solution to the financial problem.
Obama's reference to the world's leadership as America as being "proud and arrogant" sounds vaguely familiar. Isn't that what the Islamic fanatics always say about us? If he really felt that way (and his wife has already referred to us as "mean") then why didn't he voice that during his campaign?
And why on earth was the man BOWING to an Arab leader????? In case you missed it, catch it on Youtube here. Just being polite you say? Um...he didn't bow to the Queen of England. Nor did the Saudi King bow in return. Well, at least we now know which world leader Obama feels he must honor, even above his own office as President.
And in MHO: That bow was pretty darn deep for just a polite greeting.
Showing posts with label Moving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moving. Show all posts
Monday, April 06, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, Monday...
The house is slowly taking shape. We find ourselves rethinking furniture placement, and room usage.
Perhaps the book cases could fit in the Marley room (newly de-Marley'd) if we tear open the ceiling to allow the bookcases to be tilted into place.
Perhaps the large mahogany office furniture would work downstairs. (And it does...we feared it would make the room look heavy and dark, instead it defined area and added a rich feel. Wish we had realized this when the movers were here to schlep the heavy pieces down the stairs. Laura and Bernie made it happen with the use of a dolly and determination.)
With the office now downstairs, the room upstairs that was to be the office is now to be ?????
Perhaps the Marley room could work as a hat/sewing room, what with the tile floor being so much more sewing friendly and all?
Decisions, decisions.
Sunday it snowed about 8 inches. The three of us enjoyed sitting at the kitchen table watching birds visit the newly installed bird feeder. Laura got some great pictures and promises that she will post them on her blog soon.
She is flying back to San Diego this afternoon. Always hard to see her go, and she wished that she could have stayed longer as she was simply brimming with great ideas (such as using our single oak nightstand for extra storage inside my closet) and loves making a house a home anyway. Talented girl that she is...we hope she will have her own place very soon.
During the night more snow fell, and we received an additional foot of snow. Bernie got up and shoveled out our cars which now need to stay in the driveway until we can sell/give/place the garaged items that we won't be needing.
How funny that the heaviest of all the snowfalls happened as soon as the garage was full, and that snow is predicted to fall daily for the rest of the week.
Well, such is life, and it is a good life too. I read the news, and realize how quickly days such as these could become only a fond memory. I kept seeing reports of the missile launches from Iran and North Korea that seemed to be cause for great concern.
Was it really so threatening for Iran to launch a communications satellite?
Was a similar missile from North Korea such a big deal?
Surely they weren't really planning on blowing America away. Wouldn't that sort of attack mess them up too?
I found the following article (copied below from this link) that explained what was really at stake in simple language. The old "duck and cover" drills of my elementary school years never sought or knew to address what a modern "explosion" could create.
For me to say that blogging would be a thing of the past and the least of our worries would be simply to jest.
To say life as we know it would end would be far more accurate.
The article's reference to Hurricane Katrina is chilling. New Orlean's levy systems were known to be at risk, yet no funding was allocated for their improvement. Today's missile threat is preventable, if we take proper precautions now.
If we mis-judge this threat, there may not be any resources "later" with which to rectify the error in judgement.
And no one would likely be arriving from anywhere to help us either.
Newt Gingrich: A Single Nuke Could Destroy America
Sunday, March 29, 2009 4:23 PMBy: Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen
There is a sword of Damocles over our heads. It is a threat that is real but has been all but ignored.
On February 3rd, Iran launched a “communications satellite” into orbit. At this very moment, North Korea is threatening to do the same. The ability to launch an alleged communications satellite belies a far more frightening truth. A rocket that can carry a satellite into orbit can also drop a nuclear warhead over any location on the planet in less than forty-five minutes.
Far too many timid or uninformed sources maintain that a single launch of a missile poses no true threat to the United States given our retaliatory power. A reality check is in order and must be discussed in response to such an absurd claim:
One small nuclear weapon, delivered by an ICBM can, in fact, destroy the United States by maximizing the effect of the resultant electromagnetic pulse upon detonation.
An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a by-product of detonating an atomic bomb above the Earth’s atmosphere. When a nuclear weapon is detonated in space, the gamma rays emitted trigger a massive electrical disturbance in the upper atmosphere. Moving at the speed of light, this overload will short out all electrical equipment, power grids and delicate electronics on the earth’s surface. In fact, it would take only one to three weapons exploding above the continental United States to wipe out our entire grid and transportation network. It might take years to recover from, if ever.
This is not science fiction. If you doubt this, spend a short amount of time skimming the Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack from April 2008. You will come away sobered.
Even as the new Administration plans to spend trillions on economic bail outs, it has announced plans to reduce funding and downgrade efforts for missile defense. Furthermore, the reluctance by the United States to invest in a modern and credible traditional nuclear deterrent is a serious concern. What good will a bailout be if there is no longer a nation to bail out?
Fifty years ago it was not Sputnik itself that sent a dire chill of warning around the world; it was the capability of the rocket that launched Sputnik. The rocket that lofted Sputnik into orbit could also serve as an ICBM.
Yet for all its rhetoric, the Soviet Union was essentially a rational power that recognized the threat of mutual destruction and thus never stepped to the edge.
The world is different today. Intercontinental range missiles tipped with nuclear weapons in the hands of leaders driven by fanaticism, leaders that support global terrorism, leaders that have made repeated threats that they will seek our annihilation. . .can now at last achieve their dream of our annihilation in a matter of minutes.
Those who claim that there is little to fear from Iran or North Korea because “at best” they will only have one or two nuclear weapons, ignore the catastrophic level of threat we now face from just “a couple” of nuclear weapons.
Again: One to three missiles tipped with nuclear weapons and armed to detonate at a high altitude—to achieve the strongest EMP over the greatest area of the United States—would create an EMP “overlay” that triggers a continental-wide collapse of our entire electrical, transportation and communications infrastructure.
Within weeks after such an attack, tens of millions of Americans would perish. The impact has been likened to a nationwide Hurricane Katrina. Some studies estimate that 90% of all Americans might very well die in the year after such an attack as our transportation, food distribution, communications, public safety, law enforcement and medical infrastructures collapse.
It is a blow we most likely would never recover from.
Two things need to be done now and without delay.
1. Make clear in the strongest of terms that if a rocket is launched by either Iran or North Korea on a trajectory headed towards the territory of the United States, we will shoot it down. The risk of not doing so is beyond acceptable. And if they construe this as an act of war, so be it, for they fired the first shot. The risk of sitting back for thirty minutes and praying it is not an EMP strike is beyond acceptable, beyond rational on our part.
2. Funding for EMP defense must be a top national priority. To downgrade or halt our missile defense program, which after twenty five years of research is at last becoming viable, would be an action of criminal negligence.
Surely, with such a threat confronting us, a fair and open debate, with full public access and the setting aside of partisan politics, is in order. In the meantime, a policy must be stated today that we will indeed shoot down any missile aimed towards the United States that is fired by Iran or North Korea. America’s survival, your survival, and your family’s survival might very well depend on it.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. William Forstchen is the author of "One Second After," an account of a town struggling to survive after an EMP weapon is used against the United States.
You can read an earlier government hearing about this here.
Perhaps the book cases could fit in the Marley room (newly de-Marley'd) if we tear open the ceiling to allow the bookcases to be tilted into place.
Perhaps the large mahogany office furniture would work downstairs. (And it does...we feared it would make the room look heavy and dark, instead it defined area and added a rich feel. Wish we had realized this when the movers were here to schlep the heavy pieces down the stairs. Laura and Bernie made it happen with the use of a dolly and determination.)
With the office now downstairs, the room upstairs that was to be the office is now to be ?????
Perhaps the Marley room could work as a hat/sewing room, what with the tile floor being so much more sewing friendly and all?
Decisions, decisions.
Sunday it snowed about 8 inches. The three of us enjoyed sitting at the kitchen table watching birds visit the newly installed bird feeder. Laura got some great pictures and promises that she will post them on her blog soon.
She is flying back to San Diego this afternoon. Always hard to see her go, and she wished that she could have stayed longer as she was simply brimming with great ideas (such as using our single oak nightstand for extra storage inside my closet) and loves making a house a home anyway. Talented girl that she is...we hope she will have her own place very soon.
During the night more snow fell, and we received an additional foot of snow. Bernie got up and shoveled out our cars which now need to stay in the driveway until we can sell/give/place the garaged items that we won't be needing.
How funny that the heaviest of all the snowfalls happened as soon as the garage was full, and that snow is predicted to fall daily for the rest of the week.
Well, such is life, and it is a good life too. I read the news, and realize how quickly days such as these could become only a fond memory. I kept seeing reports of the missile launches from Iran and North Korea that seemed to be cause for great concern.
Was it really so threatening for Iran to launch a communications satellite?
Was a similar missile from North Korea such a big deal?
Surely they weren't really planning on blowing America away. Wouldn't that sort of attack mess them up too?
I found the following article (copied below from this link) that explained what was really at stake in simple language. The old "duck and cover" drills of my elementary school years never sought or knew to address what a modern "explosion" could create.
For me to say that blogging would be a thing of the past and the least of our worries would be simply to jest.
To say life as we know it would end would be far more accurate.
The article's reference to Hurricane Katrina is chilling. New Orlean's levy systems were known to be at risk, yet no funding was allocated for their improvement. Today's missile threat is preventable, if we take proper precautions now.
If we mis-judge this threat, there may not be any resources "later" with which to rectify the error in judgement.
And no one would likely be arriving from anywhere to help us either.
Newt Gingrich: A Single Nuke Could Destroy America
Sunday, March 29, 2009 4:23 PMBy: Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen
There is a sword of Damocles over our heads. It is a threat that is real but has been all but ignored.
On February 3rd, Iran launched a “communications satellite” into orbit. At this very moment, North Korea is threatening to do the same. The ability to launch an alleged communications satellite belies a far more frightening truth. A rocket that can carry a satellite into orbit can also drop a nuclear warhead over any location on the planet in less than forty-five minutes.
Far too many timid or uninformed sources maintain that a single launch of a missile poses no true threat to the United States given our retaliatory power. A reality check is in order and must be discussed in response to such an absurd claim:
One small nuclear weapon, delivered by an ICBM can, in fact, destroy the United States by maximizing the effect of the resultant electromagnetic pulse upon detonation.
An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a by-product of detonating an atomic bomb above the Earth’s atmosphere. When a nuclear weapon is detonated in space, the gamma rays emitted trigger a massive electrical disturbance in the upper atmosphere. Moving at the speed of light, this overload will short out all electrical equipment, power grids and delicate electronics on the earth’s surface. In fact, it would take only one to three weapons exploding above the continental United States to wipe out our entire grid and transportation network. It might take years to recover from, if ever.
This is not science fiction. If you doubt this, spend a short amount of time skimming the Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack from April 2008. You will come away sobered.
Even as the new Administration plans to spend trillions on economic bail outs, it has announced plans to reduce funding and downgrade efforts for missile defense. Furthermore, the reluctance by the United States to invest in a modern and credible traditional nuclear deterrent is a serious concern. What good will a bailout be if there is no longer a nation to bail out?
Fifty years ago it was not Sputnik itself that sent a dire chill of warning around the world; it was the capability of the rocket that launched Sputnik. The rocket that lofted Sputnik into orbit could also serve as an ICBM.
Yet for all its rhetoric, the Soviet Union was essentially a rational power that recognized the threat of mutual destruction and thus never stepped to the edge.
The world is different today. Intercontinental range missiles tipped with nuclear weapons in the hands of leaders driven by fanaticism, leaders that support global terrorism, leaders that have made repeated threats that they will seek our annihilation. . .can now at last achieve their dream of our annihilation in a matter of minutes.
Those who claim that there is little to fear from Iran or North Korea because “at best” they will only have one or two nuclear weapons, ignore the catastrophic level of threat we now face from just “a couple” of nuclear weapons.
Again: One to three missiles tipped with nuclear weapons and armed to detonate at a high altitude—to achieve the strongest EMP over the greatest area of the United States—would create an EMP “overlay” that triggers a continental-wide collapse of our entire electrical, transportation and communications infrastructure.
Within weeks after such an attack, tens of millions of Americans would perish. The impact has been likened to a nationwide Hurricane Katrina. Some studies estimate that 90% of all Americans might very well die in the year after such an attack as our transportation, food distribution, communications, public safety, law enforcement and medical infrastructures collapse.
It is a blow we most likely would never recover from.
Two things need to be done now and without delay.
1. Make clear in the strongest of terms that if a rocket is launched by either Iran or North Korea on a trajectory headed towards the territory of the United States, we will shoot it down. The risk of not doing so is beyond acceptable. And if they construe this as an act of war, so be it, for they fired the first shot. The risk of sitting back for thirty minutes and praying it is not an EMP strike is beyond acceptable, beyond rational on our part.
2. Funding for EMP defense must be a top national priority. To downgrade or halt our missile defense program, which after twenty five years of research is at last becoming viable, would be an action of criminal negligence.
Surely, with such a threat confronting us, a fair and open debate, with full public access and the setting aside of partisan politics, is in order. In the meantime, a policy must be stated today that we will indeed shoot down any missile aimed towards the United States that is fired by Iran or North Korea. America’s survival, your survival, and your family’s survival might very well depend on it.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. William Forstchen is the author of "One Second After," an account of a town struggling to survive after an EMP weapon is used against the United States.
You can read an earlier government hearing about this here.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Before and After
Before Laura came...
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
We have survived....
The team of five movers showed up yesterday at shortly before 9 am in the BIGGEST moving van I had ever seen in my life. Every inch of the van was FULL.EEEKKKKK!!!!!
I had labeled each room in the house, and had created a "cheat sheet" list of where I wanted our household items to go. I knew where I wanted holiday items to go, and what couch where and so forth.
The tricky part was this: The Houston movers had boxed everything with labels like "attic", without noting if it was the attic in the house or over the garage and "Hall Closet" without noting which hall...you get the picture...I often had no idea what could possibly be in the box!
Thankfully the "Marley" room is a big room that would hold a lot of boxes out of sight, so I just had all the mystery boxes loaded in there.
The movers agreed that Bernie and I were a very efficient team. B. checked off box numbers as the mover rapidly unloaded the van and I stood at the doorway to steer the movers with the boxes and furniture into the right locations.
Tiggie did his part by "snoopervising" all the activity from inside. He is such a good and faithful orange cat. The movers all just loved him! Hart bailed out early...and was stuck outside unnoticed in the snow for hours. We felt kind of bad about that, but he got lots of love later to make up for it.
And with a half hour lunch break and two fifteen minute breaks...the whole van was unloaded, non-stop, in only TEN HOURS.
{thud}
That was me falling over in that last line above. Yes, ten hours of five guys wheeling boxes and furniture. At one point two of them were folding packing blankets for about an hour, and another hour was spent re-assembling beds and tables.
Two hundred and twenty two friggin' boxes.
B. had to take the door casing off one door to get our over stuffed chair into the house.
All the cabinets and glass front book cases that used to be in my hat room are too tall for this house. I'm pretty dismayed about the bookcases....
The green flecks in the downstairs carpet matchs the green overstuffed couch and chair perfectly. The beige we painted the walls looks horrible with the furniture however.
Paint is cheap though...and repainting can be done after the house is settled in.
The green tea color in the living room might have to go too....we'll see how it feels after a little bit more time with the furniture.
The long triple bedroom dresser and the high black headboard actually made the turn to get into the master bedroom.
Jeff showed up about six o'clock with a bag full of delicious Mexican food. That was a lifesaver as we had been racing around on a bowl of cereal and a sandwich for food the whole day. He helped me unpack some lamps, and was horrified to discover how much paper is used to cushion the contents inside of packing boxes. The ecology of it bother him until we told him that the company picks up the boxes and paper...and that in fact all those boxes were NOT just filled with our stuff...but likely 30-40% of the bulk is just paper.
Still...it is an awful lot of stuff. The garage is full of things that we will try to sell on Craigslist, or a garage sale or just donate. Things like our mahogany office desk, the hat room cabinets, the red couch. The cars will be in the driveway until all that can be arranged, and this morning that meant that I had to brush snow from my car before I could drive to work.
At least it wasn't icy...just a wet spring time snow that barely even stuck to the driveway. I can manage as long as there is no ice!
And let me also share the best news of all...the plumber showed up while the movers were working. We had a working upstairs bathroom for the first night that we spent upstairs!
More good news: Today we are to get our kitchen counter top. And Laura arrives at 7.
There maybe a ton of work to do at home, and I may have to show up at work instead of staying home and unpacking, but at least I know that little by little eventually the house will be put together and will start to really feel like a home.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
High Anxiety
Almost every morning there is someone doing something on the house, yet it is still not where it should be at T- minus two days from furniture arriving.
The kitchen appliances are on the deck, the toilet and sink is in the garage.
Having them in those locations is NOT useful!
More angst:
I spent almost five hours on Friday looking for a dress to wear to our son's wedding on May 2nd. It needs to be street length for a morning wedding, in some shade of light blue, as the bridesmaids will be in navy and the flowers will be fuchsia.
AND I spent three more hours at another mall today.
So far I've gone to Nordstroms, Macy's, Dillards, Penneys, Sears, Ross, TJ Maxx, J. Jill, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, David's Bridal, Nordstrom's Rack, a consignment shop, looked at Chadwicks, and Draper and Damons on line, the Bridal webpages MOB/MOG dress pages....
I do have a back up dress from Dress Barn in a sea green with short sleeves. It will be fine for a morning wedding, I just was thinking more a suit with 3/4 length sleeves.
Honest to Pete, last year there were TONS of such dressy suits that were just perfect for a morning wedding. But then again, last year I was in the South, where ladies regularly dress for such occasions and the stores have a plentiful supply to choose from.
All I could find here in Salt Lake City were overly dressy dresses in browns, black, navy's and a few dusty rose beige's.
Don't they do Easter dresses and suits around here????
What is up with that???
This is stressing me out because not only do I need a dress, I'll need to find shoes too. I wear a weird sized shoe, 9 1/2 narrow, and I know it likely will be challenging to find something that A. Fits, and B. is comfortable.
I'm still going to order one outfit on line and Laura is going to try shopping in San Diego for me, and will try to bring me some choices from there.
She will arrive the day after the dreaded 220 boxes arrive and will stay six days to help me organize. Boy oh boy do I every need all the help I can get.
The one fun moment this weekend was a bridal shower for my future daughter in law Rachel. The brunch was elegant, and the girls all looked like springtime had arrived in pretty skirts. I switched purses for the event, and forgot my camera so I have no pictures of that event to post.
I know...I am totally losing it.
It got up to 70 degrees on Saturday, and B. and I spent time loafing on the lawn and watching the cats explore the yard. B. constructed a plant table for his Japanese maples; they will need to be taken in later today however...as I write this it is beginning to snow outside.
We were warned not to trust warm March days.
Aside from planting peas, carrots and lettuce, we should hold off adding flowers to the garden until Mother's Day weekend.
That gives me something to look forward to. If the 220 boxes haven't be settled by then, I plan to just move outside for the summer.
The biggest issue is that we will need to return all the stuff we borrowed from our son last September for the apartment and the house in order to make room for OUR stuff to be moved in. The movers will need to muscle our bedroom set into the master bedroom upstairs, and Jeff's loaner bed needs to be muscled out of the downstairs area by the movers.
That leaves us with sleeping UPSTAIRS, with the only potty DOWNSTAIRS.
I don't know about the rest of the world, but I for one am not viewing walking downstairs in the middle of the night to use the bathroom as a "good thing".
Actually, another reason I am not crazy about having only one bathroom is that the construction guys have to use my bathroom too. They are nice guys, and I am not squeamish about them, it is just that I always have to remember to check to make sure all my stuff is put away.
I am not crazy about the fact that the guys usually show up while I am getting ready to leave for work...like getting out of the shower and such. Even though I enjoy greeting them as I leave, I just don't like having folks roaming around the house at work while I am here alone.
(It is hard to decide what to complain about most. I am really hacked that SLC has such a lousy selection of dressy wear. What the heck do the Mormon Mother of the Bride/ Mother of the Groom wear after they finish their temple ceremony anyway? Don't they have a reception and dress up a bit??? )
Back to moving angst....
I wish I knew if our furniture will actually fit through the hallways and doors here. Seriously...the 1954 style house was not designed to hold the over sized furniture from 2001.
While I was out shopping, Bob Marley got painted over. Well, Marley was dead to begin with...so RIP behind the paint Bob. The room looks a lot brighter with him gone. That room will soon be stuffed with boxes that contain who knows what. The movers in Houston just packed and labeled the boxes with the rooms that they packed them in. And they didn't always call the rooms what we would call the room. It will be "pot luck" finding anything for awhile.
There are still holes in the walls where the electricians put in new panels, baseboards missing (on order), walls needing to be hot patched, laundry room boxes built to put the washer and drier on (and won't it be GREAT to just toss in a load when needed again?)
Seriously....I would never undertake such a major renovation ever again. I just hope in the end this one will all be worth it.
Friday, February 06, 2009
Basement: Before, After and a Surprise
Before: Dark gloomy basement: View to the west.
Low loop pine green carpet.
Ewww...
After: Not gloomy now basement: View to the west.
A tad bland, but pictures on the walls and furniture will jazz it up later.
The new carpet: beige with fireplace rust flecks and sage green flecks.
(and it is super soft....)
Basement before: view to east.
Basement after: View to east.
I've been researching a lot about 50's ranch houses. The basement was usually used as a recreation room.
With very specific elements.
As the carpet guys started tearing up the old rug, I watched and waited, hoping....
And my hope was not in vain.
A true 50's style entertainment center: an INLAID shuffle board court was under that dismal old carpet.
Ahhh...one of the joys of discovery that comes with remodeling an older home.
Can't you just picture it now?
A roaring fire, bottle of soda pop and chex mix...
The kids all dressed like Richie and the gang from "Happy Days"?
Cool!
It just broke my heart to have to cover it all up again.
But since floor tiles are made of that oh so popular '50's style asbestos...
(which is fine is you don't scuff or buff or break it in anyway...with scuttling shuffle board pucks for instance)
it had to be safely covered again with wall to wall carpeting.
Sigh.
At least I know it is there.
The packers will be here in the apartment in an hour, gotta run.
It is moving day again...the third time in five months.
One more 'moving day" to go, when our Houston household furnishing gets moved into the house in March.
After that, I just want to find a good (safe surface) shuffleboard court and play away the day.
Monday , Tuesday, Happy Days....we're gonna rock around the clock tonight!
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Rapture is better....
Last August Bernie and I walked out of house in Kingwood with two dufflebags, two cats in carriers, and two backpacks.
It was a breeze. I hardly blinked as we climbed into the awaiting taxi and drove away to the airport.
Monday night we walked back into the house...and I cried. Our left behind house was still as it was when we left it; it was beautiful, bright and in perfect order. The lamps shone like life and joy, and I felt like I had returned to the best moment of life.
I didn't forget the reasons why we had left to move to Utah. I don't regret our decision, but for a few hours we sat in front of the fire and talked of the times we had had in this house. Good times and very very hard times. Sickness and health, rich and poor, better and worse...doesn't the house that becomes a home become the stage and setting of a marriage?
Tuesday morning the movers arrived and began to empty the closets and cupboards. It is estimated that there will be close to 200 boxes loaded into a van tomorrow. Frankly, I recoiled as I shot pictures of what was in each drawer and cupboard, in a desperate ploy to jog my memory of where "things" had been stored in the "old" house.
It has been almost four months since I reached into any of those spaces. For four months I have lived just fine with just what we brought with us, a borrowed bed and a couple of chairs, a couch and three bags of "stuff" from the grocery store and IKEA.
What on earth am I going to do with 200 boxes of stuff that obviously I don't really need?
Our household goods will go into storage in Utah for a minimum of two more months. We have an idea of which house we will be buying, but are awaiting some more information before we mentally designate that place as "our new home".
Two hundred boxes...and furniture too...there simply is no room for all of this regardless of where we move.
Bernie's company is paying for the moving costs; it doesn't matter how much we bring. I stoically watched the packer carefully put an empty cardboard Starbuck coffee box in with some other kitchen item; I didn't even reach to toss it out. I will have to get a dumpster anyway in Utah and hold garage sales, put furniture up for sale on Craigslist, or on consignment, or simply leave it at the curb on heavy trash day.
I know that it is common and normal to simplify as we age. But the task of making the decisions of what goes, and how it goes seems overwhelming to me right now. I know I will have to make some sort of sense of all of our belongings and work hard to nestle them nicely into our next nest, to make a fit stage and setting of the next chapter of our lives.
And all the while that I am doing that I will know that likely we will uproot it all again in another ten years or so when we retire, or grow too old to manage on our own.
I find myself longing for heaven, for a place that will not require boxes to be unpacked to move into; a place that will not require different paint or new carpeting or any of the things that a new house always seems to need before it feels like home.
I remember all the strange and empty houses I have seen lately, and am so thankful that as our possessions are driven away, another couple, close to our age will fill it with their belongings. We met the new owners and the new "lady of the house" at signing yesterday; Ellen told me how beautiful she thought the house was, and how all her friends thought so too. She has just lost her father; her mother will be moving in with them now. How quickly even her plans had changed for her move.
As I write this on a clickity library keyboard I really just want to curl up and hibernate, and awake with everything settled again somewhere, somehow. I know that won't happen. We drive errands through Kingwood and it seems dreamlike that I am once again in Texas for just a brief moment, and will likely never be here again in my life time. Christmas decorations are up, and carols play in the stores just like they did last year, and will again next year.
A bit like the old play "Brigadoon". It seems a bit like a dream. I just hope when I awake it will all make pleasant sense somehow.
But for now, it is just most unsettling.
It was a breeze. I hardly blinked as we climbed into the awaiting taxi and drove away to the airport.
Monday night we walked back into the house...and I cried. Our left behind house was still as it was when we left it; it was beautiful, bright and in perfect order. The lamps shone like life and joy, and I felt like I had returned to the best moment of life.
I didn't forget the reasons why we had left to move to Utah. I don't regret our decision, but for a few hours we sat in front of the fire and talked of the times we had had in this house. Good times and very very hard times. Sickness and health, rich and poor, better and worse...doesn't the house that becomes a home become the stage and setting of a marriage?
Tuesday morning the movers arrived and began to empty the closets and cupboards. It is estimated that there will be close to 200 boxes loaded into a van tomorrow. Frankly, I recoiled as I shot pictures of what was in each drawer and cupboard, in a desperate ploy to jog my memory of where "things" had been stored in the "old" house.
It has been almost four months since I reached into any of those spaces. For four months I have lived just fine with just what we brought with us, a borrowed bed and a couple of chairs, a couch and three bags of "stuff" from the grocery store and IKEA.
What on earth am I going to do with 200 boxes of stuff that obviously I don't really need?
Our household goods will go into storage in Utah for a minimum of two more months. We have an idea of which house we will be buying, but are awaiting some more information before we mentally designate that place as "our new home".
Two hundred boxes...and furniture too...there simply is no room for all of this regardless of where we move.
Bernie's company is paying for the moving costs; it doesn't matter how much we bring. I stoically watched the packer carefully put an empty cardboard Starbuck coffee box in with some other kitchen item; I didn't even reach to toss it out. I will have to get a dumpster anyway in Utah and hold garage sales, put furniture up for sale on Craigslist, or on consignment, or simply leave it at the curb on heavy trash day.
I know that it is common and normal to simplify as we age. But the task of making the decisions of what goes, and how it goes seems overwhelming to me right now. I know I will have to make some sort of sense of all of our belongings and work hard to nestle them nicely into our next nest, to make a fit stage and setting of the next chapter of our lives.
And all the while that I am doing that I will know that likely we will uproot it all again in another ten years or so when we retire, or grow too old to manage on our own.
I find myself longing for heaven, for a place that will not require boxes to be unpacked to move into; a place that will not require different paint or new carpeting or any of the things that a new house always seems to need before it feels like home.
I remember all the strange and empty houses I have seen lately, and am so thankful that as our possessions are driven away, another couple, close to our age will fill it with their belongings. We met the new owners and the new "lady of the house" at signing yesterday; Ellen told me how beautiful she thought the house was, and how all her friends thought so too. She has just lost her father; her mother will be moving in with them now. How quickly even her plans had changed for her move.
As I write this on a clickity library keyboard I really just want to curl up and hibernate, and awake with everything settled again somewhere, somehow. I know that won't happen. We drive errands through Kingwood and it seems dreamlike that I am once again in Texas for just a brief moment, and will likely never be here again in my life time. Christmas decorations are up, and carols play in the stores just like they did last year, and will again next year.
A bit like the old play "Brigadoon". It seems a bit like a dream. I just hope when I awake it will all make pleasant sense somehow.
But for now, it is just most unsettling.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Call me a boomer, call me a dink, call me a Simplifier, what do you think?
Last weekend B. and I were heading out to run a few errands and between stops I flipped my cell phone open and gave daughter LauraRN a call.
She asked what we were doing, and I told her we were just dinking around.
She laughed and pointed out that "dinking around" was exactly what we were doing: As Double Income, No Kids people, we were now officially DINKS.
Gee, it seemed like only yesterday we were SINKS (Single Income, no kids) and a few other variations of acronyms.
Of course for a whole life time we've been Boomers. As in Post WWII Baby Boomers. Wow, Post WWII...that sounds positively ancient doesn't it?
I just read this article and discovered I have slid into yet another title: Simplifier.
Sounds kind of practical doesn't it? Less stuff, more life. Oh yeah.
Read all about it below, then tell me what YOU think.
Are you shifting in simplify? How is that transition going? How far do you think it will go?
(And while I do know that pasting an entire article on one's blog without author's permission is a huge copyright no-no, I am going to stick to my new roots, and simplify this read by pasting it right here where you can read it easy!)
How Recession Will Accelerate Consumer Downsizing
Posted by John Quelch on October 15, 2008 3:01 PM
Watch out for a new brand of consumer in 2008: the middle-aged Simplifier. She finds herself surrounded by too much stuff acquired. She is increasingly skeptical in the face of a financial meltdown that it was all worth the effort. Out will go luxury purchases, conspicuous consumption, and a trophy culture. Tomorrow's consumer will buy more ephemeral, less cluttering stuff: fleeting, but expensive, experiences, not heavy goods for the home.
The economic boom of the 1990s fuelled consumption and democratized access to a wider than ever spectrum of goods transforming former luxuries into "must-have" necessities. Millions played the lotteries or aspired to what they viewed on "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous". As they grew richer, pressure increased on those below to trade up. And, as they traded up, pressure increased in turn on the well-off to buy even more--the second home, the big screen TV and the latest sport-utility vehicle. Enter the big houses that measured success in thousands of square feet of floor space, topped by the 40,000 square feet, $50m palace that Bill Gates has built outside Seattle. In 2006, 35% of new homes exceeded 2,400 square feet in floor space compared with 18% in 1986. Ironically, these mansions, many owned by business people on the road half the time, grew in number as the size of the average American household declined.
These huge houses had to be filled with more stuff, good news for the home-appliance and home-furnishing industries. Even grocery manufacturers benefited. Larger homes with bigger refrigerators can absorb more inventory. Flat birth rates in developed economies have put pressure on durable consumer-goods companies desperate for top-line growth. Product quality improvements mean these goods break down less often. So durable-goods sales depend on two things: the launch of new, higher-priced, higher-featured, often customized products that persuade consumers to trade in their existing appliances before they break down (think cell phones), as well as household penetration of products such as fax machines and printers previously used only by businesses.
As the world economy slumps, one consumer segment will grow faster than ever. The Simplifiers have four characteristics.
First, they perceive that they have more stuff than they need. Sure, they may collect something specific like porcelain figurines as a hobby, but they are the opposite of the pack rats who fill their attics and basements with "you-never-know-when-you-might-need-it" stuff.
Second, they want to collect experiences, not possessions. And they give experiences rather than goods as gifts to friends and relatives. Experiences may seem ephemeral. They cannot be inventoried except in the form of "Kodak" moments; but they do not tie you down, require no maintenance, and permit variety-seeking instincts to be quickly satisfied. Dining out, foreign travel, learning a new sport will prove more resilient than expected in the face of recession.
Third, their stuff embarrasses them. Their Range Rovers no longer tell the world that they are sophisticated town and country socialites. There are simply too many of them on the road to offer much social status. Worse, they now signal the irresponsible selection of a gas-guzzler.
Fourth, they have wealth that is so assured that it no longer requires conspicuous display. They lease their cars, rent other people's holiday homes, and would happily outsource other aspects of their lifestyles. They reject the marketer's continual pressure to spend more money on possessions rather than on education, health care, and other social goods.
These are the consumers who are now trading in their sport-utility vehicles. They include the empty-nester baby-boomers, less confident than before, who are tired of heating unused spaces in cavernous mansions, now preferring smaller houses with architectural character and intimate spaces, more charm and less maintenance. Their families are scattered, unable to share conveniently the family holiday home and often unwilling to inherit the burden of something they will never use. The new economy has made it even easier for consumers to get rid of their stuff. The high-tech equivalents of the yard sale, electronic auction sites, bring Simplifiers together with those who are yet to catch the habit.
This growing segment of Simplifiers presents a challenge to marketers. These are well-off people who value quality over quantity and do not buy proportionately more goods as their net worth increases. Their increasing reluctance to consume will dampen expected demand growth in developed economies further and therefore slow economic recovery, requiring consumer-goods multinationals to further focus their efforts on emerging markets where stuff will still be king.
This post is based in part on Professor Quelch's Economist article "Too Much Stuff."
She asked what we were doing, and I told her we were just dinking around.
She laughed and pointed out that "dinking around" was exactly what we were doing: As Double Income, No Kids people, we were now officially DINKS.
Gee, it seemed like only yesterday we were SINKS (Single Income, no kids) and a few other variations of acronyms.
Of course for a whole life time we've been Boomers. As in Post WWII Baby Boomers. Wow, Post WWII...that sounds positively ancient doesn't it?
I just read this article and discovered I have slid into yet another title: Simplifier.
Sounds kind of practical doesn't it? Less stuff, more life. Oh yeah.
Read all about it below, then tell me what YOU think.
Are you shifting in simplify? How is that transition going? How far do you think it will go?
(And while I do know that pasting an entire article on one's blog without author's permission is a huge copyright no-no, I am going to stick to my new roots, and simplify this read by pasting it right here where you can read it easy!)
How Recession Will Accelerate Consumer Downsizing
Posted by John Quelch on October 15, 2008 3:01 PM
Watch out for a new brand of consumer in 2008: the middle-aged Simplifier. She finds herself surrounded by too much stuff acquired. She is increasingly skeptical in the face of a financial meltdown that it was all worth the effort. Out will go luxury purchases, conspicuous consumption, and a trophy culture. Tomorrow's consumer will buy more ephemeral, less cluttering stuff: fleeting, but expensive, experiences, not heavy goods for the home.
The economic boom of the 1990s fuelled consumption and democratized access to a wider than ever spectrum of goods transforming former luxuries into "must-have" necessities. Millions played the lotteries or aspired to what they viewed on "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous". As they grew richer, pressure increased on those below to trade up. And, as they traded up, pressure increased in turn on the well-off to buy even more--the second home, the big screen TV and the latest sport-utility vehicle. Enter the big houses that measured success in thousands of square feet of floor space, topped by the 40,000 square feet, $50m palace that Bill Gates has built outside Seattle. In 2006, 35% of new homes exceeded 2,400 square feet in floor space compared with 18% in 1986. Ironically, these mansions, many owned by business people on the road half the time, grew in number as the size of the average American household declined.
These huge houses had to be filled with more stuff, good news for the home-appliance and home-furnishing industries. Even grocery manufacturers benefited. Larger homes with bigger refrigerators can absorb more inventory. Flat birth rates in developed economies have put pressure on durable consumer-goods companies desperate for top-line growth. Product quality improvements mean these goods break down less often. So durable-goods sales depend on two things: the launch of new, higher-priced, higher-featured, often customized products that persuade consumers to trade in their existing appliances before they break down (think cell phones), as well as household penetration of products such as fax machines and printers previously used only by businesses.
As the world economy slumps, one consumer segment will grow faster than ever. The Simplifiers have four characteristics.
First, they perceive that they have more stuff than they need. Sure, they may collect something specific like porcelain figurines as a hobby, but they are the opposite of the pack rats who fill their attics and basements with "you-never-know-when-you-might-need-it" stuff.
Second, they want to collect experiences, not possessions. And they give experiences rather than goods as gifts to friends and relatives. Experiences may seem ephemeral. They cannot be inventoried except in the form of "Kodak" moments; but they do not tie you down, require no maintenance, and permit variety-seeking instincts to be quickly satisfied. Dining out, foreign travel, learning a new sport will prove more resilient than expected in the face of recession.
Third, their stuff embarrasses them. Their Range Rovers no longer tell the world that they are sophisticated town and country socialites. There are simply too many of them on the road to offer much social status. Worse, they now signal the irresponsible selection of a gas-guzzler.
Fourth, they have wealth that is so assured that it no longer requires conspicuous display. They lease their cars, rent other people's holiday homes, and would happily outsource other aspects of their lifestyles. They reject the marketer's continual pressure to spend more money on possessions rather than on education, health care, and other social goods.
These are the consumers who are now trading in their sport-utility vehicles. They include the empty-nester baby-boomers, less confident than before, who are tired of heating unused spaces in cavernous mansions, now preferring smaller houses with architectural character and intimate spaces, more charm and less maintenance. Their families are scattered, unable to share conveniently the family holiday home and often unwilling to inherit the burden of something they will never use. The new economy has made it even easier for consumers to get rid of their stuff. The high-tech equivalents of the yard sale, electronic auction sites, bring Simplifiers together with those who are yet to catch the habit.
This growing segment of Simplifiers presents a challenge to marketers. These are well-off people who value quality over quantity and do not buy proportionately more goods as their net worth increases. Their increasing reluctance to consume will dampen expected demand growth in developed economies further and therefore slow economic recovery, requiring consumer-goods multinationals to further focus their efforts on emerging markets where stuff will still be king.
This post is based in part on Professor Quelch's Economist article "Too Much Stuff."
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Househunting: Take 2
First the good news: Our Houston house is in escrow!
Good sale price, and we anticipate closing the first week in December. Thank you all so much for praying of the sale of our house, and for God keeping our house safe during Hurricane Ike.
But...this means that we must now get serious about finding a place here.
The good news for us is that the home prices here are dropping daily. I looked at a house yesterday and this morning the price had dropped $20,000.
More good news: My new real estate agent Luanne is terrific! We looked at 22 properties in the last 24 hours, and it felt like being on a road trip with a good friend, with lots of yakking and laughing and enjoying all the fall colors around us as we drove between the houses I was seeing.
Right now we are focusing on houses somewhat close to downtown. That means older homes, and since ALL I am really interested in is getting a good mountain view, it also means I get to see a lot of houses that are real doozies.
I have to share the crazy fun of what some of the houses have to offer:
Do you like the marble on this vanity? The wall mounted pink toilet was a PERFECT match! And ONE of the lights above the sink still worked!
How about seeing this wall paper to wake you up each morning?
(If you are LDS and can't have coffee, I guess this would be the next best thing....)
Imagine you open the front door on another house and that this is the first thing you see.
Yes, gold veined mirror was BIG here at one point, and some folks forgot to take it back down once the craze was over.
But wait!
Don't let the mirrors bother you. Just look down instead....
Yes, right inside the front door below the mirror is this opportunity to descend down, down...down....into the brown unknown.
(I didn't bother to go downstairs; the view from the top didn't cut it with me. I was pretty sure the basement view wouldn't have been an improvement!)
If your bed looks like a tree, why shouldn't your room look like a squirrel's nest? ALL the rooms in the house were layered in cast off clothing.
I was nervous a body might be found under all the mess.
How could anyone sleep with a wallpaper ready to part and expose the hidden terrors of this place?
Which of course would be this.
But then again...aren't all laundry rooms terrifying?
I think so...it is just terrifying that how no matter how much laundry I do, the next moment there always seems to be more laundry...and this room seems designed to underscore that madness.
Inside the house we found out that the bush wasn't the only "on fire" thing about the house. Luanne cracked me up: "Oh look! She must cook like I cook!"
This house was done mostly in Joan Collins silvery pink with crystal chandeliers EVERYWHERE, with gold leaf everything, and New Orleans-like wrought iron, only it all was painted gold instead of black.
Ewww....
With gold shag carpets.
Double ewww...
Gold shag carpet SQUARES with boxes of replacement squares still at the ready!
Hmmmm....maybe the gold shag carpet would work after all....why tear it all up when with just a little effort we could patch-patch-patch it right back up to 1960s style glory?
Good sale price, and we anticipate closing the first week in December. Thank you all so much for praying of the sale of our house, and for God keeping our house safe during Hurricane Ike.
But...this means that we must now get serious about finding a place here.
The good news for us is that the home prices here are dropping daily. I looked at a house yesterday and this morning the price had dropped $20,000.
More good news: My new real estate agent Luanne is terrific! We looked at 22 properties in the last 24 hours, and it felt like being on a road trip with a good friend, with lots of yakking and laughing and enjoying all the fall colors around us as we drove between the houses I was seeing.
Right now we are focusing on houses somewhat close to downtown. That means older homes, and since ALL I am really interested in is getting a good mountain view, it also means I get to see a lot of houses that are real doozies.
I have to share the crazy fun of what some of the houses have to offer:
(If you are LDS and can't have coffee, I guess this would be the next best thing....)
Imagine you open the front door on another house and that this is the first thing you see.
Yes, gold veined mirror was BIG here at one point, and some folks forgot to take it back down once the craze was over.
But wait!
Don't let the mirrors bother you. Just look down instead....
(I didn't bother to go downstairs; the view from the top didn't cut it with me. I was pretty sure the basement view wouldn't have been an improvement!)
I was nervous a body might be found under all the mess.
But then again...aren't all laundry rooms terrifying?
I think so...it is just terrifying that how no matter how much laundry I do, the next moment there always seems to be more laundry...and this room seems designed to underscore that madness.
As I mentioned earlier, seeing the fall colors really brightens the house hunting experience.
Isn't this Japanese maple just absolutely amazing???
It is like a bush on fire!
Ewww....
With gold shag carpets.
Double ewww...
Gold shag carpet SQUARES with boxes of replacement squares still at the ready!
Hmmmm....maybe the gold shag carpet would work after all....why tear it all up when with just a little effort we could patch-patch-patch it right back up to 1960s style glory?
Same house....any one want to guess what this door is all about???
Maybe it would be better not to know.
Maybe we would sleep better at night if we never actually find out.
(For the record...I did see some nice houses, but seriously, aren't these pictures a lot more fun?)
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
SLC PL: Voted Best in 2006 (and a house buying update)
Pretty rainbow cloud...a picture taken last week.
Another cool cloud...
And another. I love the way the cloud look against the mountains. After living without mountains for 10 years, I just can't stop gaping at them!
But.... what I really wanted blog about was my first visit to the Salt Lake City Library.
For some reason it took me quite a few tries to figure out where the under ground parking garage. It was in the back, and this is the back view of the place. Am I the only one who thinks it
looks like the Coliseum in Rome a bit?
Also in the mall: Small shops dedicated to gardening, gifts and in this case, an organization highlighting a cause.
Back to to exploring the library. I've got six floors to cover!
I headed down stairs through the two glass "wings" rising above the stairwell.
Downstairs is the glass ceiling room that is the children's area. Sail cloth covered the glass while I was there; I am not sure if the cloth can be pulled back on a cloudier day. The effect was quite interesting; a little like being about a tall sail ship somehow. It felt fast, energized overhead.
Just outside was a patio area with a two story wall of water sheeting down a wall. The dragonfly darting above the water was about as big as me!
On another wall inside was a large wreath made from hand prints cast in bronze. Apparently this is the first stage of a sculpture in process. I will be interested to see its on going process.
In the ante room of the children's room were books illustrated by children; there was no text in the books, the pictures told the stories. I thought it was clever to have each page sealed in plastic, and the book's pages held back by an elastic band which could be slipped off so each page could be turned by anyone passing by.
(I had to get a picture of the Mermaid book for Laura of course. )
I could have hopped into one of the glass elevators to go back upstairs, but there was some minor repairs being done so I choose not to. I imagine any little boys who would visit the library would be fascinated by being able to see the elevator machinery working through the glass.
I admit it; I lingered watching for a few moments myself.
Or you could chose to sit in a comfy leather chair. I did like the orange one...a little orange is nice in a library
(Note to Houston PL: I said a little. Not wall to wall orange!)
I grabbed a book on photography, and enjoyed myself for awhile, then went about getting a library card for myself.
I wondered how the leather chairs would hold up with such tight upholstery. As I suspected, the points were worn through. A good argument for some kind of cap.
Oh...nice hat!
The library is a stop for the local TRAX public transportation.
Across the street is this old church. I've cropped out all the businesses around it...it must have been beautiful when it was first built on the prairie.
Life has continued at a breakneck speed. I hardly have time to be on the computer at all since I started work on Monday.
Work is going fine; I like my boss, and am enjoying getting the tiny library into shape.
Since I was hired the company has purchased two more schools; I am now in charge of those libraries as well.
The first days at work are always a bit floaty; the IT department needs to get you into the system before you can do much of anything, so I have been inventorying the magazines.
It is easy duty; I am not complaining!
But.... what I really wanted blog about was my first visit to the Salt Lake City Library.
For some reason it took me quite a few tries to figure out where the under ground parking garage. It was in the back, and this is the back view of the place. Am I the only one who thinks it
looks like the Coliseum in Rome a bit?
Yes, I do remember that this was the Library of the Year in 2006.
And I don't blame them at all for etching that honor on their front doors!
The Library Journal always chooses one library (that usually has just been heavily remodeled to be the Library of the Year, and then also features pictures of runner ups in various categories, like small or academic or such.
I read that issue with library lust; they are always such gorgeous libraries.
Stepping inside the door...you see this:
There is an area that is like a mini mall, somewhat reminiscent of the Galleria in Italy, modernized. The coffee shop can be entered from the mall, but also from inside on the ground floor of the library. The smell of fresh brewed coffee mingled with the fragrant scent of fresh squeezed oranges, and pastry, all of which wafted through the "Browsing" area of the library.
The Library book store (which sold both de-acquisitioned library books and reading related merchandise) made good use of the outdated card catalogue.
The "browsing" area had books clustered in displays on various topics, plus new books.
Throughout the area were posters promoting various classes and speakers. I think "Hawk Talk" sounded like a great lecture. Maybe I will try to go to the one on Eagles tomorrow!
Or maybe I should go to this class instead. Darn, they meet at the same time. Well, maybe I should wait until it is a little colder out before setting in for knitting session in front of the fireplace at the library.
Pretty nifty fireplace...guess you can really seat a crowd around it!
(And yes, fires burn in all three of them.)
(And yes, fires burn in all three of them.)
I am definitely going to the Mountain Meadow Massacre talk. I want to hear what the experts from BYU and University of Utah have to say on this horrific historical topic.
Downstairs is the glass ceiling room that is the children's area. Sail cloth covered the glass while I was there; I am not sure if the cloth can be pulled back on a cloudier day. The effect was quite interesting; a little like being about a tall sail ship somehow. It felt fast, energized overhead.
On another wall inside was a large wreath made from hand prints cast in bronze. Apparently this is the first stage of a sculpture in process. I will be interested to see its on going process.
In the ante room of the children's room were books illustrated by children; there was no text in the books, the pictures told the stories. I thought it was clever to have each page sealed in plastic, and the book's pages held back by an elastic band which could be slipped off so each page could be turned by anyone passing by.
(I had to get a picture of the Mermaid book for Laura of course. )
I could have hopped into one of the glass elevators to go back upstairs, but there was some minor repairs being done so I choose not to. I imagine any little boys who would visit the library would be fascinated by being able to see the elevator machinery working through the glass.
I admit it; I lingered watching for a few moments myself.
Each floor of the library has floor to ceiling walls framing beautiful outdoor scenery. Here is a study desk beneath a window with a mountain view.
(Note to Houston PL: I said a little. Not wall to wall orange!)
I grabbed a book on photography, and enjoyed myself for awhile, then went about getting a library card for myself.
I wondered how the leather chairs would hold up with such tight upholstery. As I suspected, the points were worn through. A good argument for some kind of cap.
An James Audubon book under glass. Called an "double elephant" portfolio, the book is the size of medium sized coffee table, one of only a few in print.
Oh...nice hat!
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts is having a showing of Impressionistic art; cleverly the Library has created a display using a huge straw hat to draw attention to the posters.
Hat shaped pieces of paper were made available for children to draw their own hats; those hats in turn were used to embellish the display of art books on the Impressionists.
This was the view at the very top of the building's staircase.
I thought it looked like a sculpture.
The whole building seemed like a sculture.
It was fantastic.
From the edges of the library you can see various parks that are on the library's grounds.
You can also step outside to the Roof Top garden area. What a view! What a place to head to after grabbing a cup of coffee with a friend. Or a romantic tryst/discussion over a good book.
Or just to sit and stare and gather your thoughts.
Or just to sit and stare and gather your thoughts.
Being alone, I grabbed a croissant and a fresh lemonade, and sat downstairs in the mall area to people watch. That wasn't too bad either.
The library is a stop for the local TRAX public transportation.
Another park beside the library done with natural grasses appropriate for the low desert.
Across the street is this old church. I've cropped out all the businesses around it...it must have been beautiful when it was first built on the prairie.
This morning we drove to work past the front of the library; it has a lovely fountain with more great sculptures of children playing. The library is about five blocks from where I work, I made a note to go back when I have time and take more pictures from there.
*************
On a sad and disappointing note: We were scheduled to go to the Cottonwood view house for a property inspection today at 3.
As you may recall, we had made an offer on the house, and it had been signed and accepted. Now we just needed for the house to be inspected so the bank would know if the house was "worth" the amount that we were planning on paying.
B. and I both scheduled time off from work to be able to be at the house during the inspection.
At ten am today B. got a call: our real estate agent had news to tell us, and she was just sick about it.
Not good.
It turned out that the seller's agent hadn't informed the people who had earlier place a low cash bid in on the house a few weeks before that we made our full price offer on the house.
Their offer was so very low that it would have required the house to go into a short sell, getting the bank to agree to a short sell (accept less than what is owed on the house,) which wouldd require a process that takes many months to complete. Their offer hadn't even been signed by the owner.
Apparently though, by law, the people who had made the first offer HAD to be informed of our offer so they could raise their bid if they wanted to.
Now the owner had already SIGNED and agreed to take our offer about a week ago.
When it was discovered that he owed additional moneys, we offer even more money so he could walk away from the house without putting more money into it.
We offered the new money in a new document, which he offically accepted.
Today the low bidders upper their offer, probably going just a few dollars above our bid. They also added that since it was a cash offer, they could finish the deal in two weeks time.
Since we were only able to propose leasing back the house until ours sold, of course this new offer was quite appealing; a chance for the owner to be finished and done with dealing with the house.
He took their offer, rescending his agreement to sell to us.
The whole deal was mismanaged by the sell's agent; I also wonder if she "leaked" our offer price to the other buyers.
Yes, we are VERY disappointed.
But...
We are trusting God on this one. We don't understand it, but for now we have no choice but to accept this turn of events, and trust that when our house does sell, the perfect house will be there waiting for us here.
We are going to try to not look at any more houses until our own house sells; we will live with Jeff for a few more days then get an apartment after all.
It has been a really sweet time with Jeff (now that our cats aren't here trying to kill his cat...) and I am reluctant to move on.
And I am really reluctant to go apartment hunting again.
Oh shoot.
Oh well.
Darn.
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